ROADS, RAILS AND RACE CARS:Geography and Infrastructure of the High Speed Rail

Who remembers what is a High Speed Rail?

• Transportation that uses electric trains that can travel at very high speeds

• Provides a friendlier alternative than common transportation methods

Where are High Speed Rails?

• Asia• Japan

• Europe• France• Germany• Spain

• The United States is in the beginning stages of making a high speed rail system

• Japan already has theirs up and running• Look at the size and

population differences of Japan versus the US

• Important to think about the geographical differences• < Mountains• > Plain Lands

Size Comparison

Japan’s High Speed Rail• In Japan, High Speed Trains (bullet trains) are called

Shinkansen • The Japanese rail system acts similarly to our air

system• Seating arrangement/placement• Ticket purchasing

Ordinary Seat First Class Seat

Ticket Purchasing• Online

• Vending Machine

• In person

What was another country that has a High Speed Rail?

What connects Germany to the High Speed Rail?

• 1899 is when German engineers sought out the first high speed rail

• Further questions…

• What would be some differences between European and Japanese rails?

• What would be some differences between the United States and foreign or international rails?

Geography of Rails• What could be some things that rails could

experience in different parts of the world?• Snow• Wind• Water

Dangers with High Speed Rails

• What happens when a train is going too fast for a rail?

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFGs6hieZg4

• The train in this video was going approximately 100 mph on a track that is designed for 50 mph

• It was also near a platform

Positives with High Speed Rail

Signaling • Used to prevent collisions • Separate versus shared tracks

Terminals• There are different sizes of terminals• The larger the city, the larger the terminal

• With larger terminals, more traffic control is needed

Terminals

Activity – Computer Simulation• Get a laptop when instructed• Go to the website:

http://alltraingames.com/ • Complete the simulation of “Train

Traffic Control”• Track the amount of money you earn• Write down totals at the end of each round• Person with the most money wins